Russell Westbrook’s first season with the Washington Wizards has not gone as planned. Despite averaging a near triple-double, Westbrook has struggled and not looked like his prime self, particularly with shooting the basketball.
Following the Wizards’ 107-88 loss to Westbrook’s former team the Houston Rockets, one stat laminates the 2017 NBA MVP’s shooting woes.
With 19 points on 17 field goal attempts last night against the Rockets, Westbrook now has a total of 163 points on 163 shot attempts.
Digging deeper, he is shooting a career-worst 37.4% from the field. That includes 30.0% from three. The Wizards are 1-8 in the nine games Westbrook has played this season.
Westbrook has relied on his superior athleticism and speed to create scoring chances at the rim. However, this season 32-year old Westbrook with less athleticism is settling for more jumpers than previously.
His jump shot has always been suspect, but he is not getting to the rim as often as he did in years past. As a result, he has 5.2 free throw attempts per game — his lowest since 2009-2010. And even then he is struggling at the charity stripe, shooting an abysmal 61.7%.
Year 1 in Washington isn’t going well for Westbrook.
